Laura Loomer, the national-oriented activist who once chained herself to Twitter’s headquarters to protest her ban, escalated from online provocateur to a thorn in the side of Donald Trump’s administration, according to Reuters.
Despite her history as one of the president’s most vocal allies, Loomer now positions herself as a self-appointed guardian of the MAGA movement, publicly clashing with the White House over policies, personnel, and perceived ideological betrayals.
In recent weeks, Loomer launched broadsides against Trump’s pick for surgeon general, Casey Means, denounced his attorney general Pam Bondi, and criticised his diplomatic overtures in the Middle East. With 1.6 million followers on X and a weekly show claiming to channel the MAGA base, her critiques carry weight.
Loomer insists her role is unofficial but vital. During a recent broadcast, she declared:
I’m not working for President Trump. I’m not getting paid by President Trump. I’m not in the Trump White House. I wasn’t even on the Trump campaign. And yet, I feel like very single day, it’s a full-time job just to make sure the president is protected and that he’s receiving the information he needs to receive.
Her alleged influence peaked last month when she met Trump at the White House, shortly before the dismissal of National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and others she accused of disloyalty. While Trump denied her involvement, Loomer claimed credit, a pattern repeated with Bondi’s scrutiny and Means’ contentious nomination.
The White House, however, dismisses her as a fringe figure: a spokesperson confirmed she holds no advisory role, access pass, or future meeting privileges.
Loomer’s tactics have long courted controversy. A self-described “Islamophobe” who propagated 9/11 conspiracy theories, she faced bans for hate speech and drew condemnation even from MAGA stalwarts like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who labelled her remarks “racist” and “unrepresentative”.
Her 2018 stunt at Twitter’s HQ and 2023 quip that Kamala Harris’s election would leave the White House “smelling like curry” underscore her penchant for incendiary rhetoric.
Yet Trump has repeatedly indulged her. Last September, she joined him on Air Force One for a debate with Harris and stood beside him during 9/11 commemorations, a move that alarmed his campaign team. More recently, she sparred with top adviser Elon Musk over immigration policy and lambasted Pope Leo XIV as “anti-MAGA”, while condemning Trump’s sanctions relief for Syria and a Qatari investment deal.
Steve Bannon, another self-styled MAGA conscience, has hailed Loomer as “a warrior in the information war”. But her mix of loyalty and criticism creates a precarious dynamic. While she vows to “take a bullet” for Trump, her attacks on his team’s decisions risk fracturing the base she claims to represent.
